The Democratic primary runoff races for New York City Comptroller and Public Advocate remain
close with City Council member John Liu slightly ahead in the Comptroller's race while the Public
Advocate race is a dead heat, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. With
voter participation in the September 29 runoff election expected to be less than 10 percent, get-
out-the vote efforts by the candidates could alter significantly the final outcome.

In the Democratic primary for City Comptroller, Liu has a slight 49 - 43 percent lead over
Council member David Yassky among likely Democratic primary voters, the independent
Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Nine percent of voters are undecided.

The runoff race for Public Advocate is tied with 46 percent for Council member Bill
deBlasio and 46 percent for former Public Advocate Mark Green, with 7 percent undecided.

"That clich‚ that they gave an election and nobody came might not be just a joke after all.
Only about 10 percent of Democrats voted the first time around and less than that are likely in
the runoff," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"People who care about who should be New York City Comptroller and who should be
Public Advocate care a lot, but there aren't many of them.

"Anything can happen in a tiny turn-out. One energized neighborhood, one pitch that
appeals to a given group - ethnic, ideological, you name it - can make the difference. All we
know today is that it's a little better to be Liu than to be Yassky."

"But no candidate (and, we have to admit, no pollster) can be comfortable with such a
light likely vote. The Working Families Party scored the first time around as party loyalists got
out the vote for preferred candidates. Let's see how they do in the run-offs," Carroll added.

Liu has the highest favorability among the four runoff candidates, 64 - 11 percent, with
24 percent who don't know enough about him to form an opinion. Favorability ratings among the
others are:

From September 16 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 358 New York City likely
Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 5.2 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and
nationwide as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

1. (If registered Democrat) If the 2009 Democratic primary runoff for
Comptroller were being held today and the candidates were John Liu and
David Yassky, for whom would you vote? (If undecided q1) As of today, do
you lean more toward Liu or Yassky? This table includes "Leaners".

LIKELY DEMS
Liu 49%
Yassky 43
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) -
DK/NA 9

2. (If registered Democrat) Is your opinion of - John Liu favorable,
unfavorable or haven't you heard enough about him?

4. (If registered Democrat) If the 2009 Democratic primary runoff for
Public Advocate were being held today and the candidates were Mark Green
and Bill de Blasio, for whom would you vote? (If undecided q4) As of today,
do you lean more toward Green or de Blasio?